Outsider
by Nathan Perry
Summary: AU. Following the death of Donna Troy, and the dissolution of the Titans, Roy asks Dick to join a new team he's forming. Dick...declines?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: I own none of the characters that appear in this story, or the settings those characters appear. Strictly speaking I probably own none of this. I am a literary pauper.

"No."

"C'mon."

"No."

"Why?"

Nightwing sighed inwardly as he flew across Bludhaven's grim and gritty skyline. "Because I said so." For weeks now, Arsenal had been trying to get him to lead a new team. Ever since he was first introduced into the world of costumed vigilantism so many years back, Dick Grayson had been part of a team. First it was a duo, Batman and Robin. Then, out of a desire to get out from under their mentors wings, it was the Teen Titans. The Titans had had their ups and downs, but they were always a team.

"'Because I said so?' You might as well tell me 'Cuz I don't feel like it."

"I don't feel like it," Dick said as he vaulted effortlessly over the edge of the rooftop. Bruce. Tim. Alfred. Cassandra. They were family. Barbara was something else entirely, but 'family' was close enough for these purposes. He could work with family, could do it very well, in fact. But there was something different about the team the Titans had been. The four founders, along with himself, were his closest friends. One of them was dead. And it was his fault.

"Well I walked into that one," Roy said as he followed behind. He knew Dick was at least willing to hear him out. He'd seen how fast Dick could fly across the rooftops when he wanted to, and he knew the territory better. If the raven-haried vigilante wanted, he'd be a rapidly disappearing speck. "Dick, I understand where you're coming from. More than anyone, I understand. But I think you have to look past it."

No, he was wrong, there wasn't a difference. Nightwing flipped his body over the handles of a fire escape ladder and touched down on the roof with barely a sound. "Look past it? That's your line: 'look past it'? We buried two of our teammates. Two of our friends. Roy, we put Donna's body in the ground! I told you, no more of this. No more leading friends, leading family, into danger and death." Donna was as much a part of his family as Tim or Alfred. "I've had it."

He'd trained every Titan personally. He'd drilled them on teamwork as exhaustively as he could. He'd seen to it that the best lessons he and Batman had to teach about leading a team were imparted in Robin, leader of Young Justice. And the teamwork had failed. Failed miserably. And Donna, along with Lilith, was dead. Because of him. He'd run through things over and over in his head. A dozen strategies for dealing with the android ran through his mind, but it was too late for any of them. He ran through them, anyway. It was something to do other than listen to Roy's pitch to lead another team.

"I know," Roy said, "I know we buried Donna...I'm never going to forget that. I'm not saying we should. But Dick...why did we start the Teen Titans?" Roy asked.

"Because we were young and stupid," was Dick's reply.

"Besides that."

"I'm sticking with young and stupid." Couldn't he see? Leading a team of people he'd known since childhood had done absolutely nothing. How could he presume to try to lead some other poor suckers? Besides, if he'd wanted a team he'd have kept the Titans together. Or joined the JLA. Ok the JLA wasn't exactly a team, but the point remained.

"We started the Teen Titans to do good in our own right. not just to be sidekicks. Not just to be the other, diminutive half of the people who raised and trained us. Even then, we knew that. We were going to grow out of their shadows. Teen Titans was only the first step."

"Right," Dick said dryly.

"Now we're there."

"We are there. I don't need a team. I can do this alone," Dick stated bluntly. He didn't see how to make Roy understand without hurting him. Roy never wanted to be alone. Abandonment issues, Dick thought. As always, Dick felt a twinge of anger directed at Roy's surrogate father Oliver Queen. 'Of course', he thought dryly, 'if I get a little pissed at Ollie for the ways he's messed Roy up, I can just imagine what Roy thinks about Bruce after all the ways he messed me up.'

Roy changed tactics, "What if they're strangers?"

Dick blinked behind his mask. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Pressing the momentary advantage, Roy said, "You don't want to lead a family? Fine, screw it. This is work. No one says you have to be emotionally connected. Hell, you think the JLA has Sunday potluck dinner? Maybe that's always been our greatest fault. We never built a team, Dick. We created a family."

Dick pondered that briefly, then shook his head, "This is work, Roy, but it isn't a job. Christ, even without the Titans I live two lives worth of this work. This is a calling. This is my life! If this team is going to be people in costumes collecting a paycheck, then forget it. I have even less interest in being in charge of that then I do in reforming the Titans."

"Who said you were going to be in charge?" Roy said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you're leading the team?" Dick said lightly. "Man, way to sweeten the deal there Harper..." Roy's face reddened. He stood there in silence for a moment, hands balling up into fists. "I was just..." Dick started to say.

"FUCK you Grayson!" Roy snapped and stalked off, hopping over the edge of the roof onto the fire escape and making his way back down to street level.

Dick took a step to follow then stopped, turning away. "Dammit..." he said to himself, shaking his head and firing off his grapnel.

In the empty alley, Roy said, "Dammit..." to himself and kicked over and empty garbage can. He hadn't allowed himself to consider the possibility that Dick really wouldn't join this time. He was doubly screwed, now. He had the pieces of the puzzle pretty much put together in his mind, a good mix of powers and skills, but now he was short his king. Or queen. 'Man, that sounds wrong,' Roy thought, chuckling to himself. 'Gotta get out of the habit of thinking in Checkmate terms'.

Blowing up at Dick hadn't helped Roy's cause any, and it was stupid to boot. Roy knew Dick was a better leader than he was. That was why he wanted him. Now not only would he have to lead this team himself, but he'd have to replace all that Dick would have brought to the team. "And something tells me Batman's not interested."

Roy shook his head and tried to think who in the world could even come close. He spent a few minutes thinking and then threw up his hands in frustration. There simply wasn't anyone. No one he'd ever known had the breadth of knowledge, training and discipline that the Bats had. He briefly considered asking Robin, then shook his head. No kids on this team. He was getting one 18 year-old, Anissa Pierce, and that was enough.

Besides, he'd gotten wind of what Vic was doing in San Francisco. He'd probably want to bring Robin on board, and frankly that was a better environment for him. Beyond Dick's leadership and his abilities, he needed someone to be a hard-ass. 'Ragtag' was an understatement for the crew he'd put together.

Pierce had good genes, but was pretty new to this work. And while it wasn't bandied about, Roy'd heard that her dad, Secretary of Education and formerly Black Lightning, was less-than-pleased with her choice of career. So, eighteen and rebellious. Roy liked that, but it didn't suggest a 'good soldier' who'd meekly follow orders.

Rex Mason was the opposite when it came to experience...sort of. Ever since he'd re-coalesced, he hadn't actually gotten a lot of his memory back. Roy thought he'd be a good addition, but even when he had all his memories, the former Outsider and JLA member hadn't exactly been Captain Discipline.

Then there was Grace. Yep, Grace. Dammit, Roy really didn't want to be the one trying to ride herd on this crew. He'd had a hard enough time keeping things together when he'd led the Titans, and there he'd at least had 'Founder' status to impress the new kids. Not that he recalled that working all that well. 'Suck it up, Harper,' he thought to himself, 'You started this. Up to you to keep it going.' Why did all his pep talks sound like he was getting them from Ollie?

As for a hard-ass with Bat-like skills, Roy had an idea. A really bad idea, but it just might work...

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: In the hours between the posting of chapter one and this chapter, I have yet to wrest ownership over any of these characters from DC Comics. Curses!

A week after he'd last seen them, Dick finally worked up the courage to call Roy. He'd just come home from a shift at his day job and was having his evening 'dinner' (a bowl of Choco Crispies) before suiting up as Nightwing. What he'd said still made him wince. He was kidding, but obviously his friend hadn't taken it that way. Dick had to apologize, but what made him put off the call was the possibility that Roy would try to take advantage of his guilt to press him to join this team of his.

"Talk to me," Roy answered.

"Roy, it's me," Dick began. "Look I just called-"

"Hey Dick!" Roy interrupted cheerfully. "I'm glad you called. I wanna apologize for getting pissed at you the other day. I know you were just kidding around."

Dick blinked in surprise. This was going well. "Yeah," he started, but was again interrupted.

"I think I was more pissed that I realized I was gonna have to run this team top to bottom. No excuse for taking it out on you though," Roy said. "Sorry man."

"It's, uh, it's okay," Dick said. "I was kidding, but it was still a lousy thing to say to you."

"You're right!" Roy said, "But you can make it up to me. See there's this team I'm putting together..."

'Ah hell,' Dick thought, 'there it is...' "Look, Roy..."

"Gotcha!" Roy interrupted, laughing.

"Roy!" Dick said, exasperated.

"You know you used to be funnier when we were kids," Roy said. "Anyway don't worry, the team's working out fine. We've got all seven ready and rarin', and heck, we were just taking out plane out for a ride when we repelled an invasion of gorillas and saved the President."

"That was you?" Dick said, "I heard them calling you an 'unknown cadre of heroes' on the news. Be sure to update the JLA, 'cause I want to see the pictures you know Batman'll take of Superman's face when he has to tell you good job for saving Lex Luthor." He grinned and said, "That's a good name you know, the Unknown Cadre?"

"Thanks but no thanks, _Dick_," Roy said, emphasizing the name.

"So lemme see if I saw who you picked up for your Unknown Cadre," Dick said. He was going to keep using that name until Roy cracked and picked a name himself. Dick figured that the name Roy picked would almost certainly be worse. "I saw Jade, of course. Good choice, by the way."

"Thanks," Roy said dryly, "and if you call us the Unknown Cadre again I promise I'm going to tattoo you in your sleep."

"Not a chance," Dick replied lightly, "You lumber around like a bear with a burr in its butt."

"I do not!" Roy said indignantly.

"So I saw Metamorpho as well. I saw two women I thought I recognized. Was that Jefferson Pierce's daughter in that blond wig?"

"You got good eyes Grayson. And the big one used to bounce at that club I told you about, the one in Metropolis." Roy paused, not exactly sure how to bring up either of the other two members. He waited for Dick to speak, but there was only silence, "Dick?"

Dick had gone silent because he had walked over to his computer and pulled up a picture of six of Roy's team. The five he'd mentioned, and one other. "Roy," he said in a low, dangerous tone, "what the hell is that?"

"What the hell is what?" Roy asked. Mostly to find out exactly which 'what' Dick was referring to.

Dick erupted, "What the hell is that thing doing there?"

Roy decided that made it pretty clear what Dick was referring to and said, "Her name is Indigo. We've reprogrammed-"

Now it was Dick's turn to interrupt, "You've reprogrammed it. Great. So now it's a reprogrammed murderous robot that should be turned into scrap. Only it's on your team."

Roy grimaced. Dick wasn't taking this well, "Look, S.T.A.R. Labs and Vic were both-" he stopped when he heard a click, followed shortly thereafter by a dial tone. "Jeez," Roy said, flipping his cellphone closed and putting it back in his pocket. At least he hadn't had to explain about Batgirl.

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Insert witty comment about me not owning any of these characters here.

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Roy stepped out of the cab in a bad mood. A forty-minute cab ride to Gotham City cost an arm and a leg. It wasn't so much the money that had him ticked, it was that he'd had to leave the specialized aircraft he'd tentatively dubbed the 'Pequod' in a hangar in Bludhaven. He'd quickly decided that if he was going to have any chance of bringing Batgirl on board, he'd have to ask her before Batman found him. Easier said than done.

Everyone thought they knew how close an eye the Bat kept on his city, most didn't know the half of it. It was Dick that had told Roy that the Bat-computer had records of everyone who flew into Gotham's airports, rented a car, or bought a train or bus ticket in anyway traceable. It automatically flagged an entry if a criminal's name or known alias appeared in any of these. Dick had added that he and Batman agreed to add Bludhaven's records to the computer's recovery, so that both of them could keep an eye on what was going on.

So that led to problems for Roy. He'd come down to the Haven to ask Dick to join, not to infiltrate enemy territory. He didn't have any of his prepared identities with him, not that he could be certain Batman didn't know about them anyway. So that meant no train, no flight, not even a bus ticket could be bought without showing ID these days. If he'd flown the Pequod into one of Gotham's airports he might as well have just turned on the Bat-signal.

All of which led to a ride in a cab with a guy who wouldn't shut up about hockey. Roy didn't have any objection to hockey, but he couldn't honestly say he cared about it. It was possibly the worst 40 minutes of his life since suffering through withdrawal pains. But even that didn't get to the real reason Roy Harper was pissed off. He had absolutely no idea how to locate Batgirl.

Ok, he was in Gotham. Decent chance Batman didn't know he was here. Now what? Take to the rooftops? Sure. And hope that it's Batgirl he sees, and not Batman. Or Robin. The kid might not tell Batman he was in town, but then again he might. One in three chance at best. To say nothing of the fact that that particular plan took a lot of work. No, there had to be another option.

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"Hello? This is the Kents." the voice answered somewhat tentatively.

"Hey Conner!" Roy said effusively, "How's it going?"

There was a pause on the other end, "Who is this?"

"It's Roy, man!"

"Harper."

"I don't know any..."

"_Arsenal_!"

"Oh right! The old Titan..." another pause. "Wait, how do I know it's you?"

Roy resisted the urge to hit something. "Because, Kon-El, would anyone else threaten to make you wear kryptonite shorts if you ever called him _old_ again?"

"All right, all right! Sorry. Sheesh, I was kidding. What's up?"

"Not much. Heard you were joining the new group Vic's starting up in San-Fran. Wanted to wish you luck."

"Thanks. I guess. I don't know if I'm really cut out for the whole team thing, though."

"Well if you aren't, Vic'll fix that."

"Robin couldn't. Not for lack of trying either."

"Look, all the Batkids make it hard on a guy. You think Nightwing was any better? You feel like a doofus around them, but it really does make you better."

"I guess."

"Like I said, don't worry. The Teen Titans are all about working together. You'll see. Speaking of working with Batkids, didn't I hear you had worked with Batgirl once or twice in Young Justice?"

"Yeah. She filled in for Robin this one time."

"Cool, cool. You don't happen to have a way to get in touch with her do you?"

"Umm, isn't she a little young for you?"

"Dude! That's _not_ why I'm trying to find her."

"Have you asked Batman?"

Roy shook his head, leaning backwards onto the bed in his hotel room, "I don't exactly have his cell number Conner..."

"What about that big light that shines the Bat-signal-" Roy disconnected the call and shook his head.

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"Hey Roy!"

"Hiya Metalhead. How's the team going?"

"Little bit of a rough start. You know the new Wonder Girl?"

"Cassie? Yeah."

"Turns out Starfire didn't bother to ask _Diana_ about letting her join."

Roy winced, "That can't be good."

"Well it's not so much that she didn't _ask _her. She asked alright. It's just that Diana didn't, in fact, say yes."

"Ouch."

"Yeah. So that was kind of a thing."

"She show up there?"

"Yeah. She and half the JLA."

"So do you still have a team?"

"Thanks to Dick."

"What'd he do?"

"Showed up, told everyone off and then left with Robin."

"That's Dick alright," Roy said, mouthing obscenities silently at the mirror. Now he couldn't ask Robin without letting Dick know. As good as letting Batman know. "So what'd you do to get people to join. Like," Roy said, as if picking an example from thin air, "How'd you ask Robin to join?"

"I asked _Batman_, of course. What do you think I'm stupid?"

"No, it's just. Whoops, gotta go, talk to you later Vic!" Roy said and hung up the phone, carefully putting it down before he flung it out the window. He walked around the room for about ten second, cursing a blue streak before the phone rang again.

"Roy's male escort service," he answered.

"Harper!" the digitally-disguised voice said angrily. '_Ah shit...'_ he thought, "What are you doing in Gotham City?"

"Hey Oracle. Uh, well there's this really great Chinese place in-"

"The truth, in ten seconds, or Batman gets an immediate heads-up."

"Dammit," Roy said, looking for a tiny bit of wiggle room before caving, "I'm putting a team together up in New York. I asked Nightwing to join but he said no, so now I've come to ask Batgirl."

There was silence on the other end before the response came, "Have you asked Batman if she could join?"

Roy exploded, "No I haven't fucking asked Batman! If I did I know what the bastard would say," his voiced dropped in tone and picked up a little of the gravel Batman's voice used, "Not on your life Harper, now get out of my city." Roy paced for a few seconds before saying, "I want to find _Batgirl_ and ask _her._ If she says no, fine, that's that, but I want _her_ to say no, not him! You have a problem with that?"

The only response to that was a click, followed by a dial tone. That tore it. Roy _did_ throw the phone out the (thankfully open) window this time, and began to change into his work clothes. The twilight was receding into full dark, and Roy took the fire escape up to the top of the 10-story hotel. One in three wasn't great, but it was a better chance than zero. He loaded up the grappling hook into the specially-made launcher, and prepared to fire it at a building across the street when a voice behind him nearly made him fall off the roof.

"What?" the voice, belonging to the slim cowled teen standing behind him said.

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Next: Nightwing flies solo in Bludhaven. 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: So. So you think you can tell, heaven from hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell that the characters here are owned by DC and not by me?

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Nightwing couldn't wipe the grin off of his face as he swung through the air, high above the streets of Bludhaven. There were some wins that were sweeter than others. In this case, it was a trio of thugs that had been terrorizing business owners in Melville. _'Practically in my own backyard'_ he thought. It wasn't exactly a major rout of organized crime. Just three punks with more muscle than work ethic, and Blockbuster's hall pass. A bit of legwork on his part brought a half-dozen of the owners together. He hadn't even needed to show himself for them to agree to bring what they knew to the police.

When one of their number was rounded up by the Bludhaven PD, the other two came to Darren Walker's liquor store for revenge, but he'd been waiting for them. All three of them were going up on blackmail charges, destruction of property, etc, whatever charges that new man in the DA's office Flores could make stick. Now two of them would be in hail even longer on assault and armed robbery. Blockbuster, ruthless as ever, wouldn't be bothered to force their release. His cut of their penny-ante take wouldn't be back anyway, so they'd be left out to dry.

Not a major blow, no, but it sure meant a lot to the guys just trying to make a living. And it was another thorn in Blockbuster's side. Protection rackets, they were sweet wins. It was no mystery to Nightwing why, just as it was no mystery to him or Bruce why Batman took more pride in halting a back-alley mugging than he did in a bank robbery. "Speaking of which," he said as he saw a gun being branded in the alley below...

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It was when he was wriggling upside-down through the ventilation shaft that he heard her voice. "I can _see_ you," she said into the comm system built into his mask and suit. A tiny red light flickered on, showing the hole above him and the tiny camera inside.

"Infrared pickup?" Nightwing asked, conversationally.

"Of course," she said, sounding pleased with herself.

"And if it weren't your favorite vigilante coming down, I presume you'd have more than just a camera to stop them with?" he asked dryly. In response, a section of the shaft a few feet below him opened and a three -inch thick plate of titanium alloy slammed into place, blocking his passage. "Nice," he said approvingly.

"If you like, I could show you the knockout gas I could pump in there."

"Ah, maybe another time. It's a little cramped in here and I'm not sure I could get my rebreather on in time."

"You don't even want to see the shaft electrified?"

Now she was just showing off. "Oracle..." he grumbled. He heard laughter, and couldn't help but smile in response. The plate below him retracted. He paused a moment, then took a tiny laser torch out of his wrist compartment.

"Hey!" he heard her say, "No laser graffiti!" Nightwing laughed and went on with what he was drawing, then dropped himself further down the shaft. Even in full daylight, the minimal scoring of the metal would be hard to notice, and full daylight would never reach this far into the shaft. But to the camera's IR pickup, the head from the drawing he'd just made of DG + BG inside a heart would be clearly visible.

He was grinning as he dropped headfirst out of the shaft into the clock tower's command center, effortlessly jackknifing his body to rotate in mid-air and land on his feet. She was trying her best to fix him with a stern glare, but both of them knew it wasn't working. She opened her mouth to speak, but his finger on her lips silenced her temporarily. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up out of her chair. His lips sought hers.

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An indeterminate amount of time later, the two of them lay in her bed, clinging to each other. Barbara reached up and tousled his black hair, asking, "So what did BG stand for anyway, Barbara Gordon or Batgirl?"

Dick nipped at her earlobe and said, "Yes."

Babs giggled and said, "Does Cassandra know?" From seemingly nowhere, a pillow nailed her in the face. "Grayson!" she yelled, and an all-out ticklefight ensued. When the battle was concluded, (a draw was declared,) and after hostilities were formally ceased, (with a round of kissing sealing the treaty,) Barbara lay a hand on his chest and asked, "How are you holding up, Dick?"

He wasn't going to go quietly into the realm of serious conversation. "Terrible. I've been horribly abused by this beautiful redhead."

"Dick!" she said, poking him in the side, "I'm serious. You don't talk about the Titans anymore. You don't even leave Bludhaven unless it's to come here, or unless Bruce needs someone to watch Gotham. You can _tell_ me."

Dick closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and staring at the wall. "There's nothing to _tell._ I miss my friend. I miss Donna. I wish she were back. I miss the Titans too, but I don't wish they were back. They four of us from the beginning, we all were ready to move on. Garth and Wally already had. Now Roy's got his team-"

"And what about you, Dick?" she asked, touching the palm of her hand to his cheek and tilting his head, gently forcing him to look her in the eyes. "What have you moved on to?

dick's blue eyes stared back into her green ones. "Maybe this is what I've moved on to. One city to clean up, another where I can help when I'm needed." He placed his hand over hers, "One woman to love."

Babs laughed softly, "Dick, you'll never settle for just one." A shocked expression crossed his face. "_City_! One _city_! You dork!" Peals of laughter came roaring out of the redheads mouth. Dick's face reddened and Barbara's head rolled back onto the pillow. She laughed so hard she found herself clutching her stomach. He contented himself watching her, until her laughter finally subsided.

Deciding she owed him for that round of laughter, Dick leaned over to kiss her, but she put up her hands to block him. "No, we finish talking first. Except for the occasional hiatus, you've been with the Titans for over a decade. I'm not saying a break isn't in order, but at some point, isn't there a possibility that you'll want to do more?"

"Is this your way of saying I'm around Gotham City too often?" Dick said lightly, mostly to give himself a moment to think. He was getting suspicious.

She elbowed him in the ribs and said, "Shush. I'm serious. Look, when it comes to teamwork, strategy, tactics, half the JLA doesn't have your knowledge and experience." Dick snorted in response. "What?" she asked, "You don't think you're better than-"

"I think you're selling me short. When it comes to teamwork, the only member of the JLA that has my knowledge and experience is Martian Manhunter. When it comes to strategy and tactics, there's only Batman. Look, no disrespect of the JLA intended, but when you take out Batman and Martian Manhunter, all you have left is the most powerful collection of metahumans on the planet. Nothing to sneer at, certainly, but they're not a _team_." When Barbara nodded, Dick frowned. "Ok, I'd convinced myself you were recruiting me for the JLA, but that's not it. What gives Babs?"

Now it was Barbara's turn to blush, her face coloring. "Damned suspicious Bats," she grumbled at him. Then she punched him in the arm.

"Ow! Stop that."

"I didn't hit you that hard you big baby," she said.

"No, but the guy with the pipe tonight did," pointing to the bruise that was just starting to purple on the exact spot she just hit. As he rubbed it, he asked, "Was that for being wrong or for being right?"

"That was for being you," she groused.

"Ok, so I was right, but if you're not trying to send me to the moon, what _are_ you trying to recruit me for?"

To be continued...

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What is she recruiting him for? And how did Roy ever convince Batgirl to join his team? Find out in:

Outsider: Chapter 5


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I wonder what the hell I'm doing hiking in a place called 'the valley of the shadow of death'. Next time I'll go to the park or something. Meanwhile I don't own these characters.

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"So," Babs said, being uncharacteristically indirect about this, "You know I've been working with Black Canary?"

Dick blinked in mock-surprise. "Really?" he said, "You know I used to be Robin?" She slugged him again. "Ow!" he said, clutching his arm. She had aimed for the bruise intentionally that time. "Dammit Babs! Yes I know you work with Dinah. If the times you've worked with Dinah _and me_ weren't enough, her _walking in on me in your shower_ was the kind of clue you don't need world's greatest detective training to decipher. Violent woman..." he grumbled, rubbing at the bruised arms.

She crossed her arms and glared at him, asking, "All right then _detective,_ why don't you tell me what I'm asking then?"

"Fine," Dick groused, "and don't call me detective. It makes me think I'm in bed with Ra's Al Ghul." This time he knew the blow was coming, and was able to grab her wrist before she could land a jab to his bruise again. "Ok," he said as an impromptu wrestling match broke out. He pinned her arms against her sides and pulled her onto his lap. "Barring the possibility that the question about Dinah was misdirection..." he paused, frowning, "You're planning on expanding, getting more agents. When did you decide this?"

Barbara struggled to break free of his grip, then gave up and leaned her head back against his chest. "About five seconds after I was sure you weren't going to break down and join Roy's team," she answered.

"Aw Babs..." Dick began, sighing. Turning her down was going to be harder than turning Roy down. She was _way_ more devious and ruthless and Roy. "What's he going to think if I said no to him and than turned around and joined your team?"

"That you're whipped?" she said with a face of angelic innocence.

"I'm whipped by a sexless green floating head? Even Roy wouldn't buy that one without a few questions."

Babs scowled, turning to face him, "_You're_ going to be a sexless floating head in a second soon-to-be former boy, wonder."

"As cute as you being threatening is, there's a few other points to bring up."

"Fine," she said matter-of-factly, "State your objections and I'll overcome them."

Dick sighed. '_Far more ruthless,_' he thought. "Ok, while I don't want to join his team, Roy is my friend. Leaving aside hurt feelings for the moment, at some point he's going to need my help."

"And it's going to be _your_ help he needs? No one else can handle it?" Babs asked just a bit too smoothly.

Dick frowned, "Well _Batman_ could, but I don't exactly see that partnership forming anytime soon."

She gave him another leading question, "So you and Batman would be the only two in the world capable of helping Roy with his team's hypothetical problems?"

Dick blinked, getting an idea of where this was going. "He didn't! That lousy... Tim needs to be with people his own age! That's why Batman convinced him to join the Teen Titans! Just because Roy _acts_ like a child-"

Babs, who had stifled a giggle when Dick went on his tirade, interrupted, "Not Tim! Someone else."

"Who else would-"

"Someone else Bruce trained."

The number of people Bruce has trained is a pretty short list. Leaving out all the unlikely answers such as Spoiler, or Babs herself, there was one obvious choice. Dick said, "He didn't..."

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_**Two weeks earlier...**_

When Roy had gone to Bludhaven, he'd carefully prepared his pitch for Dick, creating a step-by-step plan for how the conversation would progress, what objections he would need to overcome, and how he would finally bring him around. He'd wonder if he wasn't overdoing things when he caught Lian saying "We own the whirl the bust we half," (a slightly inaccurate repetition) around the house in a tone that would have sounded unbearably pompous were it not coming out of the mouth of a six year-old girl.

So, Roy went to make his pitch, and he'd gone all of halfway through his second sentence before Dick had interrupted with a flat 'No.' Things sort of fell apart from there.

All his efforts of the past few days had been focused on _finding_ Batgirl, and now that she was here, he really didn't have a good idea how to proceed. "Well..." he said, stalling for time. Dick could be Captain Stoneface when he wanted to, but you could at least see his face and the lack of expression there. With Batgirl's cowl and mask completely covering her face, he'd have nothing to go by, nothing she didn't choose to show. "We owe the world the best we have..." he heard himself saying.

"Stop." she spoke in a flat voice. She crossed her arms and let her cape drape entirely around her. "Why?"

Roy blinked at that, "Why do we owe-"

"You want me to join team," she interrupted again. "Why?"

Dick had told him that Batgirl made Batman look talkative. He'd thought that might leave some hope that he'd be able to get his entire speech out in one piece. Obviously that wasn't the case. He paused and asked, "Why should you join the team?"

"Why do you want me to?" she asked. "Nightwing's a friend. You ask him. Now you ask me. Out of friends?"

'_Did she just make fun of me?'_ Roy thought. '_There might be hope for this kid yet._' "Two reasons," he said, lifting a hand and extending his index finger, "First, as team leader, it's my responsibility to put together as good a team as I can. You guys have a skill-set that maybe a half-dozen people on the planet have. Since four of those are you, it cuts down on the recruiting options. I've seen it with Dick and the Titans, with Robin in Young Justice, and Batman with the JLA. Having a Bat makes a team better. Yes, I asked him. I've known him longer. He said no, I'm seeking options."

She stood there, evincing no reaction whatsoever. He didn't see much choice but to continue. He extended a second finger and said. "Capes sometimes have a real hard time learning that their powers aren't the solution to every problem. Having a teammate without a single meta-gene that makes everyone else feel like superhuman amateurs is a great motivator."

Batgirl made a very subtle movement. Her head bobbed slightly, and her shoulders shook. Roy blinked. '_Was that a laugh?'_

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_**Present...**_

"He did," Babs confirmed. "Soooo," she said sweetly, "your friend won't need your help, and you're free to sign onto whatever team you like." She patted him on the cheek and says, "...so long as it's mine."

Sensing that the discussion was slipping away from him, Dick said, "Ok, let's address that. Why your team?" He held up a hand as he saw one of her fists clenching again and said, "I mean, what is your team going to be doing that Roy's team isn't?"

"Cleaning up after themselves?"

"I _have_ shown you pictures of my apartment, right?"

"Y'know, you can't blame Alfred for that."

"I _don't_ blame Alfred for that."

"I'm just saying. Bruce has lived with him all his life, and he's not a slob."

"That's because Bruce is the world's biggest tight-ass. And I _don't_ blame Alfred for me being a slob!"

Barbara sighed, "In any case, that wasn't what I meant. The way you follow a case in Gotham or Bludhaven isn't the way you handled it with the Titans. I know it was a different situation, but it seems like most teams exist as threat-response units. With the intel I can dig up, we can search out problems before they threaten lives."

"So we'd be hunters?" Dick said, then he winced in sudden realization. She smiled at him. He had said 'we'. While they were in bed. She now had the ability to use girlfriend-logic to declare that a binding promise, one that would have a severe negative effect on their relationship should he choose to abrogate it. '_Far more devious...'_

He was caught, and they both knew it, but she was gracious in victory. She placed her hands on his cheeks and said, "You don't think the world has enough firemen?" Dick leaned forward, and they kissed.

When they broke the kiss, he said, "I assume you have a team in mind?"

Barbara nodded and said, "A couple of them we're going to have to recruit." She pushed herself off of his lap and reached over towards her nightstand. She opened the drawer and pulled a manila folder out. "That'll be your job, of course."

"Of course," he said dryly, opening the envelope and pulling out a series of printouts with her prospective team's pictures. Dinah's picture was on the front. As he began to flip through her choices, his eyes slowly widened. "You. Have got. To be kidding..."

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**_What kind of team _has_ she picked out for him anyway?_**

_**And how did Roy manage to get his 'really bad idea' past Batman?**_

**Find out in Chapter 6**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: There is a house in New Orleans, they call the rising sun. There's many a man who doesn't own these characters, and Go-od knows, I'm one.

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**Outsider**

Chapter 6

"Of course," Dick said dryly as he opened the manila folder, pulling the series of printouts out of the envelope. Dinah's picture was on the first, along with a dossier from Oracle's files. Obviously Black Canary would be on the team, and Dick had no problem with that. She was experienced, skilled, and Barbara's best friend. He skimmed the text briefly in case there was anything he didn't know. There wasn't, and he moved that printout to the back of the stack.

The next picture was him. More specifically, it was him ten years ago in his old Robin mask, sticking his tongue out at the camera. He glanced over at Babs, who was grinning at him. Forcing his own grin down underneath an expression of mock-offense, he very pointedly did not read what she'd chosen to write about him, flipping it to the next page. Dick blinked in surprise.

Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. They'd worked together, of course. More than worked, truth be told. She'd caught him in a weak moment, it was true, but he wasn't Roy. He didn't sleep with a woman simply because she was attractive and willing, no matter how lonely he was. She'd said it was nothing more than an effort on her part to work her way into his 'family'. Dick supposed it could be vanity on his part, but privately he didn't believe that was all there was to it.

Objectively speaking, she would make a good ally, if her more extreme impulses could be curbed, but in creating this team, Dick was a little surprised Barbara could be _that_ objective. He wasn't sure he would have been. He supposed it wasn't very enlightened of him to think that. Obviously just because he was working with her, it didn't mean they were going to fall into bed. _'But still,'_ he thought as he flipped to the next page, _'I wouldn't exactly be thrilled if she had...what the hell?'_

Looking at the next page, Dick frowned at the smiling face of Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. _'Ah, that explains Huntress,'_ he thought. She wanted him on the team, and didn't want any arguments over the fact that she'd dated him before. _'Look at this objectively, Grayson. Think of what he brings to the team. Forget that he's the guy she dated while she knew I was waiting for her. Instead, remember that he's...that he's what, the guy who used Justice League funds to build a theme casino? The straight man in the Booster-n-Beetle comedy team? What _does_ he bring, anyway?"_

Dick forced himself to read through the text. She seemed to be highlighting his work with Kord Electronics, and his technical background. Dick grudgingly admitted the man had an inventive mind that bordered on genius. Bruce used Kord's company as a way to get equipment when it was best not to get WayneTech involved. '_Of course, Bruce can't stand him,'_ Dick thought. He was going to discuss this further, but as there was one prospective teammate left, Dick turned to the last page.

Seeming to stare back at him was a pair of pupil-less green eyes set into a face with orange-tinged golden skin, surrounded by a thick mass of red hair. Koriand'r. Starfire. Helena, Ted Kord, and Kory. Eyes slowly widening, Dick said, "You. Have got. To be kidding..."

"You don't like the team I picked out?" she asked, smiling lightly.

"Lori Elton and Jason Bard weren't available?" he quipped.

"Dick! Be serious."

"I am being serious, Babs. Aren't teams only supposed to have these sorts of tangled webs of interpersonal relationships after they've been together for a couple years, not before they've even started? Hell, as long as the Titans were together, I think even at the end things weren't this mixed up."

"The titans had a higher turnover than a McDonald's located across the street from a landfill."

"Babs!"

"What's wrong with everyone knowing each other?"

"Nothing. 'Know' isn't the verb I'm having the issue with."

"And what _is_ your issue, Dick?" Barbara asked, her voice steely.

That was a dangerous-sounding tone, but Dick didn't back down. "That the personal relationships in the team you've selected will be a distraction and a detriment to the team's ability to work together."

"You don't think you can be professional about this?"

"_I _can, but-"

She interrupted, "So you think I'm the one who won't be professional?"

"I didn't say that, I said-"

"So who is it that you _are_ saying won't be able to work with the other people on this team?"

'_Kord!'_ Dick thought, but he didn't say that aloud. "I'm not singling anyone out here. I'm saying that as a group, it's going to be a distraction. Look, you wouldn't make a team out of Batman, Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Talia Al Ghul, would you?"

"How in the world do you envision _those_ four teaming up?"

"You don't! That's why-"

"No, hold on a second. Since you're comparing my team to this analogy of yours, who in those papers you're holding are you equating to the thief, and who are you equating to Ra's Al Ghul's daughter?"

Dick felt this slipping away from him again, "The _point_, Babs, is that however capable an individual may be, when you group that person with-"

She interrupted again, "Ok, obviously you're Batman in that scenario."

"Babs."

"I guess Starfire is Diana, although that's more than I wanted to know about Bruce."

"Babs!"

"Does that make me Alfred?"

"BABS!"

"Yes Dick?" she said, putting on her most innocent expression.

Whether or not he was going to win the larger argument, this was something that needed to be addressed now. "When we're in bed, you may not refer to yourself as Alfred. My psyche is far too fragile to be subjected to that kind of abuse," Dick said with a shudder.

She laughed, "Dick, let's start from square one here. Dinah is my best friend. I assume you don't have a problem with her on the team, do you?"

"Her? No, it's-"

That was as far as he got. "And of course," she interrupted, "you're on the team. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes!"

"Too bad. Moving right along..."

"Babs..."

"Moving. Right. Along." She glared at him. He glared back, but didn't say anything. "Huntress. Former member of the JLA-"

"And how did that 'former' come about, by the way?"

"-who both of us have worked with in the past. Dick, do you really not want to work with Huntress?"

"It's not Huntress. It's Huntress _and_ Starfire _and _Blue Beetle."

"Ok, not Starfire then."

"I...what?"

"If you don't want to work with your former fiancee, I understand. We can do without her."

Dick frowned, that wasn't who he wanted to omit. "That wasn't what I had in-"

"Her reason for inclusion is that except for Dinah's cry, the rest of the team doesn't have a meta-gene between them. I thought her powers would come in handy in case the team needed it, but this really is more of a stealth-oriented team. She does tend to stick out."

Dick stared at her, waiting for some hint of a laugh or a grin to poke its way onto her lips, but Barbara simply looked back, a serene expression of calm on her face. '_It's Bruce's fault that we all do that,'_ he thought. "You've convinced me," he said dryly, "Both Helena and Kory are necessary parts of the team. Now as to Beetle-"

"Ted stays," she said flatly. "If for no other reason than we're going to need someone in the field with a great deal of technical knowledge. Also we can get new toys from Kod."

"I could-"

"Your operation in Bludhaven is one-man. Ted has his entire company behind him, and if you're about to suggest _WayneTech _as a resource," she said as he opened his mouth, "forget it. I'll ask for Batman's help if I need it. Not sooner, and not when there's another option.

Scrambling for some reason to object, Dick said, "Didn't he retire?"

"Unretire him. I said recruiting was your job." Sensing his resistance crumbling, Babs took his face in her hands and said, "I really did plan this carefully, Dick. Trust me?"

'_Ouch,'_ he thought. She had phrased that as a question. There was only the right answer, and it was the truth. "I trust you," he answered, thinking, _'Kord, on the other hand...'_ Thoughts of the Blue Beetle fell away as she titled her head up to face his, and they kissed.

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_Two weeks earlier..._

Roy thought he saw the light at the end of the tunnel. He couldn't be sure, but if that was a laugh, there might be enough of a human being under there to appeal to. After a second or two of a pause after what Roy had presumed to be laughter, Batgirl asked, "What do I get?"

Roy blinked. He thought, _'She couldn't ask Bruce Wayne for spare change?'_ and said, "In terms of...money?" confusion evident on his face.

She shook her head curtly. For all that her masked face couldn't reveal any expression, Roy got the distinct impression that he was being scowled at. "What did you get?" she asked, pointing at him. "What did Nightwing get? What do I get?" She punctuated this last by pointing towards the bat on her chest.

"Ohh," Roy said, nodding slowly in understanding. "What do you get out of the experience." Batgirl nodded in response. "Well, first off, you learn to work in different environments. Teamwork, obviously, but also physically. Ever been in space?" he asked with a grin. She stood, unmoving. Roy shrugged and said, "And even Bats make friends when they hang around other people." Roy felt a sudden pang of sorrow, his memory flashing back to the original Titans, and the one who was no longer with them. "Dick did. Robin still is. Even Batman did. Grudgingly. Over his fierce objections."

Batgirl saw the sudden pain Arsenal had felt at the mention of friends in his body language. She ignored the joke and asked, "Why do you hurt?"

Roy blinked again in surprise. "Are they growing you Bats with telepathy now?"

Batgirl paused, then said, "I... Body language. I can read it. Like you read words."

Roy thought about that for a moment. '_That could come in handy'_ He nodded and explained, "We lost a friend. Dick and I." He forced his face impassive, but he couldn't hide the sense of grief and loss from her.

Batgirl nodded and replied, "Donna," eliciting another surprised look from Roy. "Oracle," she said by way of explanation. "Ok."

"Not really," Roy said dryly, forcing a weak smile.

"No," Batgirl said. "I mean. Ok." Pointing first to him, and then her."

"Oh, Why?"

"Donna. Must be good friend to hurt so much." Roy nodded solemnly. "Uh," she said, looking almost like she was about to fidget. "How to tell Batman?"

Roy grinned, "He's a detective. He'll figure it out."

"And then he'll break you," Batgirl said, adding unnecessarily, "small pieces."

Roy frowned. She had a point there. A slow smile crept across his face and he said, "Ok, here's what you tell him..."

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_Later that night..._

"...What?"

Batman had come back from his last patrol of the night, and had been entering reports into the night's logs when Cassandra had contacted him. She had told him she was going to be spending some nights out of Gotham City, and would be unavailable on those nights. This was a surprise. Her dedication rivaled his own, and she rarely took any time off, even when urged to. He wasn't unwilling to accede to this request, but he had asked why. He figured Spoiler or Oracle had talked her into some off-duty frivolousness. Her answer had stopped him in the middle of the sentence he had been typing.

"Woman problems," Batgirl repeated.

Batman had no idea how to respond to that. He blinked behind his mask, trying to figure out exactly what she meant. He asked carefully, "What sort of..."

Cass jumped in, "Not sure...words. Ask Oracle."

Batman stared blankly at the screen. He tried to imagine himself calling Barbara and asking for the specific nature of Cassandra's 'woman problems', and quickly determined that there was absolutely no way in hell he was going to do that. "You'll let me know when you're going to be unavailable?" he said.

"Yes," she answered, closing the connection.

Batman shook his head, wondering what had just happened.

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_While Batgirl is meeting Roy's team, Dick is putting Barbara's together._

_Who has the tougher go of it?_

Find out in Chapter 7


	7. Chapter 7

Things Geeks Say #453: "I liked the Weird Al version better."

Disclaimer: I didn't write the joke that appears above. I did write all the stuff below, but I don't own any of the characters that appear in it. Woe is me.

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**Outsider**

Chapter 7

_Two weeks ago_

As they walked down the corridor, Roy was telling Batgirl how a wealthy man's paranoia was responsible for their headquarters. She was listening, but didn't think the information was all that useful. As he approached the heavy blast doors, he bent forward to allow the laser scanner to map his retina. The doors opened with a hiss, and voices echoed from inside.

"I don't care if your day does work for him, the President is an asshole!" A tall woman was arguing with a dark-skinned girl in a blond wig. Both of them glanced at the new arrivals, but Grace Choi didn't let it interrupt her harangue. "Trust me," she continued, "I lived in Metropolis. We're all glad Luthor's moved on to whiter pastures. Hey Roy," she waved a greeting at the redhead.

The darker woman looked away from Grace, glancing at Batgirl, then arched an eyebrow in Roy's direction. "I thought you said you were going to get Nightwing?" To Batgirl, she seemed faintly disappointed.

The grey-skinned man with the apparently malleable flesh added, "With my memory, who knows, but I'm pretty sure he was taller than that. And, y'know, a dude." Reading him was…confusing. She could do it, but it was as if he spoke with a barely intelligible accent. The files the computer had spoken to her on Batman's old team 'The Outsiders' had indicated that Rex Mason, Metamorpho, was able to change the elemental structure of his body. Seeing him in person, he looked more…unstable. More fluid than the photographs suggested.

Roy said jokingly, "This is Batgirl, and she's better than Nightwing. Batgirl, this is Thunder, Metamorpho, and the loud one is Grace."

The aforementioned 'loud one' walked up to her and said, "I don't think your new bat is fully-grown yet," and put her hand on top of Batgirl's cowl, as if to illustrate the height difference between them.

As soon as the hand touched her head, Batgirl was in motion. The rest of the team watched in surprise as she whirled, grabbing Grace's wrist and sending the woman who had nearly two feet in height and over a hundred and fifty pounds in weight on her head over heels. Leaning over Grace, flat on her back, Batgirl said flatly, "Don't do that."

Unhurt, but blinking in surprise, Grace said, "How the hell did you…" Grinning, the larger woman sat up and pronounced, "I _like_ her." Seeing no hostility in her, Batgirl offered Grace a hand up, which was accepted. "Stronger than you look, too. Don't be getting any ideas though. I usually only fall onto my back for _guys_." Batgirl stared back silently. "Not a talker, eh? Well good. Someone's got to be the quiet one. Even the robot babe in the miniskirt doesn't shut up."

A teal-skinned woman entered, saying, "I am an android, and on average I spent only nine-point-seven-eight percent of a day speaking. I do indeed shut up." Behind her cowl, Batgirl frowned. Where Metamorpho was difficult to read, this android was impossible. She moved only where she intended to.

"You see?" Grace said, pointing at her, "Chattiest toaster I ever met."

"Aw lay off her, Grace," Roy said.

"Why? The fembot doesn't have any feelings."

"Guys," Metamorpho said.

"I do not believe fembot is an accurate description of me."

"See?"

"Guys," Metamorpho repeated. Batgirl glanced in his direction. He was staring at one of the monitor screens.

Roy frowned. "Look, you don't _know_ that she doesn't have feelings."

"I don't care, either."

"_Guys!"_ Everyone turned to look at the monitor Rex was pointing at, which showed a cruise ship barreling into a massive pier, knocking huge chunks of concrete aside, pushing the bow of the ship onto the edge of land. Once the ship had ground to a halt, uniformed gorillas carrying automatic weaponry began pouring out of the ship onto the streets of New York.

"All in favor of putting all bitching aside for the moment and going out and taking care of King Kong's third army?" Grace asked

"Seconded," Roy said, slinging his gear over his shoulder.

----- ----- -----

_Present_

Step one for Dick's recruiting drive was Black Canary. She was the closest, living in Gotham City, and since technically she already worked for Oracle, this was more in the line of keeping her abreast of Barbara's plans rather than recruiting.

He lined up his jump, fired his grapnel and stepped off of the roof, swinging over the streets and landing on the balcony of Dinah's midtown apartment. The instant he did, the balcony's lights switched on. He felt a brief urge to hide, but suppressed it. Dinah (or more likely, Barbara) must have had pressure sensors installed.

The lights were on inside, but drawn curtains prevented him from seeing into her apartment. He waited a few moments for her to arrive. When she didn't, he knocked lightly on the French doors leading into her apartment. They opened immediately. Dinah, dressed in a loose-fitting t-shirt and denim shorts, smiled, "I wonder if whoever it was would knock or just pick the lock. C'mon in, Nightwing."

He chuckled and admitted, "If you hadn't answered, I'd have broken in."

"You want something to drink?" she said, heading towards the kitchen.

"I wouldn't say no to a Zesti."

"Soder okay?"

"That's fine."

"Red or white?"

"Dick blinked at that. "What?" he asked. Glancing into the kitchen, he got an eyeful of Dinah bending over as she reached into the fridge. Embarrassed, he quickly looked away, sitting down on one of the couches in the living room. She returned, carrying a bottle of chardonnay and two glasses. Dick's eyebrow arched behind his mask. "Uh, maybe I'm not as closely acquainted with Soder's product line as I used to be, but that looks like wine."

"I'm pretty sure you're over twenty-one," Dinah said, amusement in her voice.

Dick frowned. This was odd. "Drinking's not a good idea when your ride home is the rooftop express."

Despite his protestations, she set a glass in front of him. "Oh _relax, _Dick…" she leaned over to pour the wine, her loose-fitting shirt revealing more than a little of what was underneath, "Who says you have to go anywhere, anyway?"

"Dinah?" Dick was on his feet, backing away from her. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You know I…" Scanning the apartment, he caught sight of the laptop computer sitting on her dining room table. It was open, the power light was on, and through the monitor was blank, it (and the tiny camera sitting on top of it,) was pointed directly at them. He glared at the computer and said, "Not. Funny."

"TIME!" Barbara's voice emitted from the computer's speakers. The monitor blinked on, and both of them could see Barbara smiling smugly. "Fifty-seven seconds from entry until discovery. Pay up."

Dinah frowned and said, "You cheated! That little light on the computer is a signal. It's flashing Bat-code or something." The eyebrow on Barbara's visage rose. "Cheater!" Dinah exclaimed.

"It's the power light. It had to be on, because the computer had to be on. You owe me a pint of rocky road. Now, Nightwing, I hope this demonstrates to you that…Dinah?"

Dinah looked around. Neither of them had seen Nightwing leave.

----- ----- -----

At the clocktower, Barbara scanned backwards through the recording of Dick's arrival at Dinah's apartment. She saw him back out of the camera's field of view while she had talked with Dinah. The door to the balcony was never touched, so he must have either exited via the front door or, more probably, slipped out through her bedroom window. His communicator had been turned off.

After considering her options, she opened a direct communication to one of Gotham's vigilantes. "R, this is O."

"Just a second O," Robin's voice said, the sound of the impact of a Kevlar-clad fist with a skull audible in the background. "You know, you guys aren't all that good at this," he said amidst the sounds of violence. "Have you considered the lucrative field of non-crime? It's a bit more long-term than you're used to, oof, thinking, but there's a lot less in the way of butt-kickings and jail stints in your future." There was a cracking sound, and he said, "Ok, ready now. What's up, O?"

"You know, if you're going for the 'biggest smart-ass in a Robin costume' award, your predecessors have set the bar pretty high," Barbara said, her voice containing a good deal more rancor than she'd intended.

There were several moments of silence before he asked, "What'd he do?"

"Uh. Nothing, actually…can you let me know if you see him?"

"…This sounds a whole lot like something I really don't want to be in the middle of."

Barbara sighed and said, "Look, just…if you see him, tell him I want to talk to him."

"If he's got his comm. Turned off, he probably knows. I'll tell him though. R out."

Barbara took a deep breath. She barely had time to exhale before Batman's voice came over the comm. "What is it?"

"What?" Barbara said, momentarily confused. _'Get a hold of yourself!'_ she thought viciously. In her more professional 'Oracle' voice, she answered, "I didn't contact you, B."

"I know," he graveled. "You contacted Robin, trying to locate Nightwing. What is it?"

Barbara blinked in surprise. "You're monitoring my communications?" Not that it wouldn't be just like him, but tapping into her commsys shouldn't have been possible, not without her knowledge.

"I monitor _Robin's_ communications," he growled by way of explanation, "and don't change the subject. What is going on with him?" It took long experience with him to divine Batman's moods from his gruff, gravelly voice, but Barbara could detect a hint of worry there.

"He's not in danger…" she began.

He interrupted, annoyed, "This is personal, then."

She scowled. "Yes. This is personal. Meaning none of your business."

"If it's interfering with the welfare of this city, ti is my business. I don't want a repeat of what happened with Batgirl."

Barbara disconnected the channel and put Oracle on standby. She went to the kitchen to make herself some coffee. When she wheeled herself back into her command center, Nightwing was waiting for her. Before she could speak, he said, "Huntress is on board. Tomorrow I'll head to San Francisco and swing by Chicago on my way back."

"Dick, I was only trying to-" she began.

"I know what you were trying to do Babs, and you're completely missing the point. It's not that the team you've picked isn't _capable_ of putting personal issues aside and getting the job done. It's that we're going to _have _to. And you're going to get incidents like tonight's, where our personal and professional lives are going to butt heads, and it's not going to be a joke."

His voice softened and his gloved hand touched her cheek, "Neither of us has a great track record when it comes to mixing our work with our personal lives. I don't want to lose you."

"I think you're underestimating me. I know you're underestimating yourself." She placed her hand on his.

----- ----- -----

_Two weeks ago, (two hours later)_

"It wasn't exactly pretty, but all in all it has to be considered a victory," Roy said to the assembled team. "First, I want to thank Jade," he indicated the green-skinned woman who had joined them during the melee. "The bluff with the gorillas worked perfectly, and if you hadn't been along, I don't think we would have survived that explosion. I hope you'll consider working with us on a more permanent basis."

Jenny Scott chuckled, "The idea of a team where the women outnumber the men _is_ a welcome surprise. Less so, given that _you_ put it together, Harper." Assorted snickers followed that comment.

"I do not…'get it,'" Indigo stated, glancing in Metamorpho's direction.

"Don't worry about it," the element man suggested.

"Grace, Thunder…" Roy said loudly, trying to get control of things, "That was quick thinking with the plan. If you hadn't stopped it, hundreds of lives could have been lost." He paused and shook his head. "You're both crazy, by the way."

Thunder grinned, while Grace favored Roy with a more reserved smile (and a less-reserved finger).

"Rex," Roy said, "that methane trick of yours took out a whole platoon of monkeys."

"Mountain gorillas," Indigo noted, not for the first time.

"Does she have an off switch?" Grace asked.

"Which is why I'm not gonna make you clean the monkey-spew off my boots. And _you_," Roy said before Indigo could correct him, "kept the _fully-grown mountain gorillas_ off our backs long enough for Jade to join the party."

Cassandra found all of this…odd. When it came to team meetings, she was used to a certain professionalism. Sure Stephanie, Dick and Tim cracked wise in the Batcave, but such outbursts were the exception rather than the rule. This was chaotic.

"And Batgirl," Roy continued, moving onto the team's quietest member, "That human lie detector thing you do is going to be no end of useful."

Thunder looked to Grace and said, "I still can't wrap my brain around the concept of a ninety-eight pound girl beating a confession out of an ape."

Roy continued, "Though I might suggest not jumping out of the plane on your own like that unless the situation calls for it."

"Did call for it," Batgirl answered.

"And while I think we all appreciated the peace and quiet, I don't think knocking out the President was entirely wise."

"Speak for yourself!" Grace shouted, "If this girl's twenty-one, I'm buying her a drink. If she's not…well, I know places where that won't matter."

Thunder glanced at Batgirl curiously, "Why _did _you pop him, anyway?"

"'Cuz he was being a big whiny Presidential bitch?" Grace suggested.

"Maybe," Thunder conceded, "but doesn't she have some Bat-gizmo in her ear to block out the noise?"

Batgirl glanced between the two women and explained, "The President is an asshole."

----- ----- -----

_Dick's still putting Barbara's team together_

_Cassandra's still getting used to hers_

_And what 'incident' was Batman referring to?_

_In Chapter 8_


End file.
